A lost friend
by Logan Jindrak X
Summary: Aladdin's reflection as his best friend, Genie, passed on to the next world. A tribute to Robin Williams.


During his whole life, Aladdin never thought he would accomplish anything great. After all, being born with no parents in the lower class of Agrabah, no one could expect anything special from him. With no money and no friends outside of his trusty monkey partner, Abu, Aladdin found himself forced to steal in order to survive. This got him in trouble quite a lot, but with time, it became a pleasure in his daily routine. After only a year, the "street rat" became known as the "king of thieves".

Then, everything changed when he met her. Princess Jasmine.

At first, he hasn't even known she was a princess; he thought she was an outsider who recently joined Agrabah - who can steal an apple and not expect to get her arm cut after all? Nonetheless, she just had this... charm that got through his loner's heart. So the shock his heart felt after they shared an apple (much to Abu's displeasure) and learned that she was actually the princess of the Sultan was pretty violent. He understood that he could never be with her because... well, she was a princess and he was a mere street rat. The rules of the Arabian culture were clear: a princess could only get engaged to a noble or a member of royalty.

Ironically, the one who allowed him to change everything was his worst enemy: Jafar. The right hand of the Sultan, who plotted to take the throne for himself by marrying Jasmine. He tricked Aladdin into getting an artifact inside the legendary Cave of Wonders. There, Aladdin and Abu met two new friends: the Magic Carpet... and the Genie of the Magic Lamp.

It's this one who changed everything for Aladdin. The blue man granted the young thief three wishes after getting him out of the crumbled Cave of Wonders. Aladdin's first thought was that he could use these wishes to somehow win Jasmine's heart and change his destiny. But after thinking for a bit, he realized that Genie also had his own free will and dreams. He wanted to be free and see the world for himself. However, as a genie, he was trapped inside his lamp and forced to grant wishes to whoever found him. It has been this way for over a thousand years. This prompted Aladdin to take a decision: he would use his first two wishes for himself and keep the third to free the Genie from his lamp.

The rest is history: Aladdin made himself pass for Prince Ali, he ended up winning Jasmine's heart, stopped Jafar's evil plans, and became the Sultan of Agrabah after freeing Genie. With nothing holding him back, the blue man could leave Agrabah and start discovering the world. He did just that, visiting every place in the world... three times. He made sure to send letters to his old friend all the time to explain him his adventures. They all made Aladdin smile.

But then, one day, Aladdin received the final letter. Indeed, Genie announced him that he felt like he had seen everything the world had to offer after three full world travels. And so, he decided to give up on his cosmic powers and move on to the next world. Aladdin cried a lot that day, and nobody - not Jasmine, Abu, the Sultan, or Magic Carpet - could make him feel better. His best friend was gone forever. At least, Aladdin knew that he moved on after being free and living his life the way he wanted.

Aladdin stood before the Magic Lamp which he kept inside his room in the royal palace on a beautiful pillow. Even if it was nothing special anymore, Aladdin decided to keep the item as a memory of his best friend. Now, taking the golden object his his hands, the man sighed in sadness as a tear came down on his cheek.

"Thank you, Genie. I ain't never had a friend like you. But now, you are free..."

**Author's note: I know it's a bit late to make a tribute to Robin Williams, but I just watched the movie (the 1992 one) with my friend and... I couldn't resist. And better late than never, right?**

**Robin Williams was one of my favorite actors of all time. The guy did so many awesome movies: Jumanji, The Fisher King, Madame Doubtfire, or my most favorite of them all, Patch Adams. I was so sad when I learned of his death. Depression is not the same as being sad. When someone gets depressive, their will to live on slowly gets drained away to the point of disappearing. It is a VERY serious condition. This is why it is our responsibility as human beings to help those who suffer of depression.** **When you invest your emotions in a person it's because you care for them and hence, they expect your love in return. If you have friends who suffer from this condition, call them, visit them, or do anything to support them. They need you. Don't leave them alone because they need your support in every way.**

**May the gods watch over you all.**


End file.
